The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles is once again the winner of the Seaoil-National Basketball Training Center tournament. It was the Magic Eagles’ 3rd NBTC plum but it is only there first championship since 2013 when Metro Manila teams started joining the tournament pitting the best high school teams in the country. SHS-AdC rallied to beat the San Beda Red Cubs, 82-78 in the finals.

The Red Cubs were actually leading majority of the game as they started the finals match with a dizzying 18-2 blast. The CESAFI Juniors Champions responded with a run of their own to end up just trailing by 3 points, 18-21 ,after the first period. The Red Cubs caught a bad break at the second period after Chami Diputado suffered a knee injury. Diputado who scored 11 points after just 2 quarters did not play the rest of the game. Despite the loss of Diputado, San Beda controlled the game and entered the final period with an 8 point lead.

Ateneo de Cebu started strong in the 4th period as they cut the lead down to just a single basket at 66-68. The Magis Eagles then applied the 11-0 coup de grace that took the fight away from the Manila-based dribblers. The Cebuano team were led by UAAP-bound Janjan Jaboneta (UP) with 27 points. UST-bound teammate Zach Huang had 14 points and 8 boards. Joshua Sinclair had a monster game of 15 points on top of 17 rebounds. San Beda was led by DLSU-commit Andrei Caracut who had 17 points. Norish Decapia also finished with 17 points for the losing team.

Capitol Parish Gym, Cebu City – The University of the Visayas Baby Lancers will be Cebu’s representative in the regional championships in Roxas City for the Milo BEST Center Passerelle Tournament after beating rivals Sacred Heart School- Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles in a thrilling final game, 56-53. The winner of the regional tournament will represent the Visayas in the National finals to be held in Cebu in December of this year.

It was the Magis Eagles who struck first outscoring the Baby Lancers 10-6 after the first period behind the efforts of Jed Colonia who outscored UV by himself with 7 points. The second period was even as both teams scored 12 points. Andre Chua had 8 points for the Eagles while Denzel Sabroso had 6 points to lead the Lancers. The score was 22-18 in favor of Ateneo de Cebu after the first 20 minutes of play. Then, everything went downhill for the favored Eagles.

The third quarter belonged to UV and John Clint Pacquibut as they totally overhauled the deficit by outscoring the Eagles 22-9. Pacquibut hit 3 three-point shots to stun the Magis Eagles-dominated crowd. He made the long range shots in succession to shift the momentum to the green shirts. He finished with 15 points in 10 minutes. UV led 40-31 entering the final period.

The final period started at a frenetic pace as the SHS-AdC team employed a vicious full court press that led to several UV turnovers and easy scores. They started the period with a 10-0 blast to take back the lead. Colonia had several steals and Andrew Velasco waxed hot as he scored 7 in the quarter. Fatigue may have finally caught with the Magis Eagles as the Lancers were able to employ an effective press break. The game was tied at 47-all going to the final 2 minutes. Ateneo had ball possession. Velasco missed his long range shot but Colonia was there to score the putback to give Ateneo its final lead at 49-47. UV responded with a booming triple from Sabroso to give the Lancers a slim 50-49 lead. Ateneo failed to capitalize on its opportunity as they gave up possessions and were forced to foul the Lancers. Gonzaga, Zenarosa, and Sabroso had nerves of steel as they hit their free throws giving UV a 56-51 lead with less than 12 seconds left in the ball game. Chua scored for SHS-AdC to make it a one possession game with less than 8 seconds left at 56-53. UV quickly inbounded the ball but it was stolen by Velasco. The ball ended up with Chen who had a good look for a 3-point attempt but the his attempt to send the game to overtime bounced off the cylinder and ended up in a UV player’s hands to end the championship game.

It was a major victory for UV as they rarely beat SHS-AdC in the Passerelle level. Sabroso and Pacquibut paced the Baby Lancers with 15 a piece. Eight other players scored for the victors. Chua, Colonia, and Velasco combined for 36 points to lead the losing team. It was a great championship match and the result will just fuel more fire to the budding UV-Ateneo rivalry in Cebu high school basketball.

For the first time in many years, UP held the lead from the 1st quarter till the end of the match. All 12 players tapped by Maroons Coach Ricky Dandan scored at least a point. It was a total team effort for a team that is learning how to win after several near-wins against some of toughest teams of the season like DLSU and Ateneo. UP boasts of one of the most experienced groups in this year’s competition as 8 of its players are in their final year of playing at the UAAP. The Fighting Maroons were, however, led by a 16 year old Freshman from Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu in this game. Former Energen U-16 mainstay Renzar Henry Asilum scored 14 points along with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He was able to somehow negate the efforts of the explosive Roi Sumang of UE who finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. Asilum was backstopped by Mark Lopez who had 10 markers, 8 boards, 4 dishes, 2 thefts, and 1 blocked shot. UP was able to dominate the rebound battle with a +10 margin (48-38). They also had a 23-6 advantage on assists while causing 21 TOs and making 10 steals. UP was able to limit their turnovers to just 11 in the game.

The next game for both teams will be on August 25 with UP battling Ateneo and UE facing DLSU.

National Under-18 coach Olsen Racela added two new players to the line-up that swept the Southeast Asian Basketball (SEABA) Under-18 tournament for the 22nd Fiba Asia U18 Championship in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia which will start on Friday. The two new players are Cebuanos. Kris Porter who now plays for the Ateneo de Manila UniversityBlue Eagles used to play for the Sacred Heart School- Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles before moving to Manila to finish his high school career playing for the Blue Eaglets of ADMU. The second player added is the reigning UAAP Juniors MVP Jerie Pingoy who starred for the UC Baby Webmasters before being recruited by the Far Eastern University. The two are expected to play vital roles in the country’s quest for supremacy in Asian youth basketball. Porter will be relied on defend the post and secure rebounds while Pingoy’s job is to create scoring opportunities for his teammates and himself. On Friday, the Energen U-18 team will slug it out with Saudi Arabia.

Leading by only 3 at 67-64 in the fourth period after 3-pointers from UP’s Mark Lopez and Mike Gamboa, Ateneo turned to Sumalinog for the needed boost in scoring. The Cebuano responded by scoring 5 in a 7-0 run that brought the lead to a safe ten points, 74-64, with only 2:30 left to play. Sumalinog who is usually used by coach Norman Black as a defensive stopper hit 2 0f his 3 attempts from long distance while the rest of the Blue Eagle squad went 0 for 7 for the afternoon.

It was a tough loss for UP who are still looking for their first win of the season. The Fighting Maroons came out strong right at the opening tip and even took a 9 point lead at some point in the second period. It was a stark contrast to the lethargic starts of UP in their previous 3 games. UP held a 40-32 lead at the half-time break. The break, however, was just what Ateneo needed to wake up from their offensive slumber as they outscored their Katipunan neighbors 29-17 in the crucial 3rd period and took the lead for good.

Nico Salva was the game’s top scorer as he managed to get 21 markers. Former University of the Visayas Green Lancer Greg Slaughter finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Mark Lopez, Alvin Padilla, and Mike Gamboa scored in double figures for the Maroon five. Former Sacred Heart School- Ateneo de Cebu and RP U-16 member Henry Asilum started for UP and finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal. He was 2 for 2 beyond the arc but he missed all of his five 2-point shot attempts.

Former Ateneo de Cebu-Sacred Heart School Magis Eagles stalwart Renzar Henry Asilum contributed 12 points in UP’s upset bid against DLSU in the 75th season of the UAAP. It was Asilum’s first game in the country’s premier collegiate league and his team almost started the season with a big win. UP fell short, however, 73-68.

The UP Fighting Maroons went toe to toe against the DLSU Green Archers in the first quarter as they only trailed by 1 point after the first ten minutes of action. DLSU asserted its dominance in the middle quarters as they lead 56-40 going to the final minutes of the 3rd quarter. With La Salle fans thinking that the Archers will stroll for their first win, UP had other plans as they made a valiant 15-2 run to cut the lead to just 3 points at 55-58. The rally was single-handedly quelled by freshman Jeron Teng who scored on back to back baskets to put some distance between the two teams.

The Fighting Maroons made their final run with few minutes left in the game as they held the Green Archers scoreless for almost 3 minutes while uncorking a 9-0 blast to grab the lead at 68-67 with 44 seconds left. In the next play, point guard LA Revilla drew a couple of defenders before passing off to Teng who attacked the basket and converting a 3-point play to give back the lead to La Salle at 70-68. UP failed to score for the rest of the game as La Salle padded the score when UP was forced to foul.

Fil-Canadian Norbert Torres led DLSU with 16pts, 14rebs, 3asts, 3blks, 1stl. Teng and Revilla combined for 30 points. UP was led by the 18pts, 5rebs, 2 treys, 1ast, 1stl, 1blk performance of Mike Silungan and the dozen points of freshman Asilum. Cebuano Mark Jayven Tallo was scoreless in his debut with La Salle. Tallo was supposed to play for Ateneo last year but he left the team and transferred to Ateneo’s main rival.

DLSU joins ADMU, NU, and FEU at the top of the standing with a 1-0 record. They will face the UE Red Warriors on the main game this Thursday while UP’s next assignment will be against the UST Growling Tigers on Saturday.

ADMU started slow as they trailed by one ,15-16, after the first 12 minutes of play. They were able to get a 4 point lead at the half behind the efforts of last year’s Finals MVP Nico Salva. After their trip to the dugout at the half, Ateneo emerged a different team as they started assert their dominance over a Falcons that lost players like Lester Alvarez, Cebuanos Jerick Canada and Jan Colina to graduation. Slaughter started a big 3rd quarter run with a dunk and the Blue Eagles had a double digit lead going to the 4th quarter. They never gave their opponents a chance and cruised to a 16 point victory.

Salva and 2011 Rookie of the year Kiefer Ravena supported Slaughter by combing for 23 points. Ateneo’s big 3 scored over half of the team’s points. Former Don Bosco Technical High School player Christopher “Oping” Sumalinog had 6 points for the Blue Eagles. Adamson’s cause was led by Rodney Brondial and star guard Alex Nuyles who had 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Former Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagle Julius Cadavis scored 11 to be among the four Arellano Chiefs players who scored in double figures in their upset victory over the Collegio de San Juan de Letran Knights, 77-67. The victory was the first win for Arellano in four tries this season. The Koy Banal-mentored squad is out of the cellar with a 1-3 record.

The Chiefs waxed hot early in the game as they lead in double figures most of the first half which ended 39-28. The game was very physical resulting to ejections to two Letran players. Knight’s team captain Jam Cortes was ejected in the second quarter after throwing an elbow in a rebound play. Jonathan Belorio followed him to the showers after committing his second flagrant foul with 5 minutes left in the 3rd period. The loss of the two players made it difficult for coach Joel Banal to find the right combination to rally from the large deficit.

In the 4th quarter, the Knights launched a last ditch rally to cut Arellano’s lead down to two at 64-66. The Chiefs responded with an 11-0 run behind Fil-Canadian James Forrester and Rocky Acidre to pull away. Forrester top scored for the Chiefs with 18. Kevin Alas had 22 points for the Knights who suffered their second straight loss after an opening win over San Sebastian.

Porter is one of the few lucky Blue Eaglets who got elevated directly to the Senior’s team. He will probably have limited action in his freshman year but he is expected to contribute whenever Coach Norman Black calls his number. He will probably be featured in many publications with his unique mix of talent and good looks. Just recently, he is on the cover of Chalk Magazine July 2012 edition along with DLSU‘s Gab Reyes. Indeed, Kristoffer Porter is having a good start on his UAAP senior’s basketball journey.

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